THEGAYUK

Author: Tim Baros

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Price, Wyndham’s Theatre, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | The Price, Wyndham’s Theatre, London

    ★★★★ | The Price

    (C) Nobby-Clark

    There is a price to pay for everything in life, and in the new play The Price, this is true.

    Now playing at Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End, one of Arthur Miller’s least known plays is a study of two brothers who have not spoken to each other in 16 years yet each has their demons, each have paid a price for decisions they had made in life. Brothers Victor (Brendan Coyle) and Walter Franz (Andrian Lukis) have not seen each other for 16 years since their father passed away. During this time, Victor has kept dozens of his parents pieces of furniture in his attic, and he’s decided to get rid of them. So he asks 89-year old appraiser Gregory Solomon (a wonderful and definite Olivier Award in this role for David Suchet) into the home he shares with his wife Ester (Sara Stewart). Solomon is a Miller character, and Suchet injects his character with such panache, humour and vulnerability that it’s a master class of acting.

    Meanwhile, Walter suddenly shows up, having not returned any, any of Victors’ phone calls over the years. And, yes, there has been a price in not returning those phone calls, and we learn that Victor paid an even bigger price by remaining at home to care for his father when he was getting sicker and sicker. And all Ester wants is to have enough money to be comfortable, and as the going gets rough between the two brothers, Solomon offers a price for the furniture. Is the price a good one? Is there a price for being a responsible son, versus one who flies the coop and becomes successful? All of this drama takes place with the backdrop of the great depression in their past.

    The Price, which was written in 1968, is about estranged brothers facing up to the lasting effect of the Depression on their family three decades on. It’s also about not reaching your dreams, and family conflict. The set, where dozens of pieces of furniture are literally hanging on the side of a wall (by Simon Higlett), is genius. Also genius is the acting. Suchet is superb, and Coyle is at ease as the brother who may or may not have been manipulated by his sick father. Under the direction of Jonathan Church, The Price is worth the price of a ticket.

    The Price is playing at the Wyndham Theatre until Saturday, April 27th.  Book tickets here

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Rip It Up, Garrick Theatre, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | Rip It Up, Garrick Theatre, London

    ★★★ | Rip it Up

    The 60s are back in the West End, and add a lot of dancing, throw in a few handsome pop stars, and what you have is an evening of very very light theatre.

    Rip it Up, now playing at the Garrick Theatre, throws into the mix the best songs from the 60’s with beautiful choreography (by Gareth Walker, who is also the Director), and starring four former Strictly Come Dancing Contestants, and heartthrobs.

    Louis Smith MBE (former Olympic gymnast and all around hunk), Aston Merrygold (former member of the X-Factor group JLS), Harry Judd (drummer in the worldwide famous pop group McFly), and last but not least Jan McGuiness (from The Wanted). These men, along with a bevy of young and sexy backup dancers, give it their all with fancy dance moves and upbeat music. But the best part of the show is the amazing singing by Jill Marie Cooper and Ant Brant. Cooper wins the audience over in her renditions of songs from Dionne Warwick to Jefferson Airplane, which lifts this show up a couple notches for without them this would’ve been just another jukebox musical without the jukebox.

    All of the four male leads are fine, but they are not allowed to individually shine that much. Merrygold only gets to sing a couple songs, while we are treated to an all too short gymnastics routine by Smith (though luckily for he spends most of the time in the show either topless or wearing tight clothes). He is also a very graceful dancer. Judd is allowed a one minute drum solo (the audience wanted more), while McGuiness really doesn’t seem to offer much, though he tries his darndest to keep up with the dance moves.

    Emcee Cavin Cornwall does a fine job guiding the audience through the different musical sounds of the 60s, though he wobbles horribly through ‘Heard if Through the Grapevine‘. Videos of Lulu, Tony Blackburn, designer Zandra Rhodes and the indelible Dionne Warwick tell us what is was really like in the 60s – show us don’t tell us! And Lulu actually comes on a few too many times.

    But ultimately Rip it Up will only appeal to fans of the X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing (of which all four stars have danced in). I can see this show selling out on the UK tour, but for a West End stage, it doesn’t quite feel right.

    Rip it Up plays at The Garrick Theatre until June 2, 2019

  • RESTAURANT REVIEW | BOWLS, London

    RESTAURANT REVIEW | BOWLS, London

    ★★★★ | BOWLS, Soho, London

    One of the tastiest, and fun, and coolest restaurants in Soho is not on the trendy streets of Old Compton Street or Dean Street, it’s on that walkway called St. Anne’s Court. Most people use St. Annes Court for easy and quick access to Wardour and Dean streets. But next time you pass through St. Annes Court, look for BOWLS – and go right in.

    Once you walk in you will be enveloped in warmth, with smells that you can’t quite put your fingers, and tastebuds, on. And once you are shown to your seat, you will feel like you’re in a friends house. All of this is due to owner and manager Zarifa Ragimova. Moscow born, she has really put her heart and soul into this restaurant, which is just over 2 months old. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu London, and her hard work here has paid off. Right next to the bar as you walk in there is a painting of her co-created by her boyfriend Will – it’s stunning. And further in you can see bowls on the main wall from all over the world, and heading downstairs there is a clever and stylish lit up guardrail, and downstairs the walls are painted in tropical style – beautiful! Oh, and let’s not forget the food.

    BOWLS menu is a mix of Jamaican, South American, and Southeast Asian – a combination that really really works. Starting with the Painkiller Slush from their cocktail menu – it sure was a killer – deliciously so! With Gosling’s and Koko Kanu Original Jamaican Rums, orange, pineapple and coconut, this yellow looking drink, served in a coconut bowl, was ever so sweet and ever so delicious – the best drink I’ve had in a very very long time. My dining companion had the Bloody Marley – and while it was not an actual bloody mary, it was more of a cocktail, with white tequila botanical tea, bloody mary mix and lemon and tomato juice – and quite refreshing he said. Lots of other drinks to try, which I will on my next visit! £8.50 each.

    The food menu is nice and concise, and not overwhelming at all. From the choice of six starters, we had the BBQ Jerk Chicken Wings (3 very large pieces – at only £5.50), with mango and spring onions, which was assigned a hot chilli symbol on the menu but was not very spicy but was finger-lickin’ good. The BBQ glazed pork belly bao – two – were very large, but a bit on the dry side. Perhaps a bit more BBQ would’ve made them tastier.

    However, when it comes to the main portions – the Greedy Bowls – BOWLS excels. 5 mild choices, 2 medium choices, and 3 hot choices are on the menu. As I am a wimp, I had the mild Braised beef cheek. It sure was a cheek – a very large one at that, and was served with sweet potato mash (superb), sauerkraut and pickled carrots. The combination of all this was very clever, and wonderful. And while the beef was oh so tender and delicious, mild was just a bit too hot for me. I would’ve liked to have seen a non-chilli dish on the menu, but since Caribbean, South America and South East Asian foods are known for their spiciness – perhaps it’s not an option. My friend gobbled up his Laksa – a large soup dish with prawns, fish slices, tofu, and vermicelli noodles – which fell into the Hot category – but the hot spiciness level didn’t hinder him. He said this Singaporean dish was perfectly spicy.<

    And for dessert, we had to try two of their three items on the menu. The Chocolate Truffle Cake was just to die for. Warm, very rich, and not too big, it was a nice large finger slice with a bit a fruit on top. And The Churros were just divine. Served with a wonderful white chocolate & raspberry dip, the dozen or so were crispy, warm and luckily not drowning in sugar – for a perfect finish.

    Other dishes on the menu that might take your fancy include Tuna Poke, Zari- Pho- Braised Pork Belly, Homemade Broth, Soft Boiled Egg, Chilli, Thai Basil, Bean Sprouts, Spring Onion and Flat Rice Noodles, and Pan-fried Sea Bass or perhaps a Coconut Rundown Curry. Starters (Prawn Tostado, Butternut Squash croquettes, and Seared Tuna Salad) and sides (Cassava fries, fried plantains, kimchi and Truffled Courgette Fries) all sound oh so very good. Perhaps for the next visit.

    ‘BOWLS make dishes taste better’ – this is their tag line, and they are right. The food, from the starters to the main dishes, are served in varying designs and in bowls from large to small, and all pure comfort food. And the vibe is FUN! Having walked by the restaurant a few times in the past couple months, it’s constantly buzzing and busy – and with its central location, makes it a great place to meet friends after work as well as a nice weekend meal. You might also catch a night when the DJ is on the decks – all to make BOWLS extra spicy. I guarantee you will leave Bowls feeling satisfied, nourished and deeply contented, an experience that is good for the soul, and the tummy!

    https://bowlsrestaurants.co.uk

    27 St Anne’s Court,
    Soho, London W1F 0BN
    020 3146 0445

    soho@bowlsrestaurants.co.uk

    LUNCH
    Monday – Friday: 11:30 am – 3:30 pm (last reservations at 3 pm)
    Saturday: 11:30 am – 4:30 pm (last reservations at 4 pm)
    Sunday: closed

    DINNER
    Monday – Wednesday: 5 pm – 11 pm (last reservations at 10.30 pm)
    Thursday – Saturday: 5 pm – midnight (last reservations at 11:30 pm, Reduced menu available only between 10:45 pm – 11:30 pm)
    Sunday: closed

  • FILM REVIEW | Boy Erased

    FILM REVIEW | Boy Erased

    ★★★★ | Boy Erased

    In 2004, at the age of 19, American Garrard Conley was sent by his parents to a conversion therapy program to rid him of his homosexual feelings. This true story is now a film called Boy Erased.

    The amazing Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird, Manchester by the Sea) plays Garrard. He is a young man growing up in a small bible belt community in Arkansas. His father Marshall (Russell Crowe) is a respected pastor in the local church while his mother Nancy (Nicole Kidman) believes in everything her husband says. But Garrard is given a choice by his parents when he tells them he is gay: either agree to attend the church-support conversion therapy program where he will have to go to a camp with similar young adults or risk losing his family, a family that he is quite close to. Garrard has no choice but to go through therapy. Garrard is happy being gay – even entering into a relationship with a fellow student at college – but it is his religious upbringing (and a stern father) which helps him make the decision to go to therapy.

    Once he is at the Love in Action gay conversion therapy assessment program, he meets fellow young men like himself (including director and actor Xavier Dolan, and Joe Alwyn – at the time of this writing Taylor Swift’s boyfriend). They all struggle to not come to terms with the way they are, meanwhile all the time guided by the chief therapist Victor Sykes (writer and director of the film Joel Edgerton). But of course, Garrard has urges that he can’t control, while his parents feel that for him to lead a happy life is to lead the life of a straight man.

    The real Garrard Conley, of course, luckily survived his time in the therapy program to write the book which is now this film, and it’s a very good film. Hedges, as always, is fantastic. One never knows what he’s thinking because of his inquisitive facial expressions, and he steals the movie from the two heavyweight actors who are playing his parents. Crowe is excellent as the self-righteous father but Kidman is both warm and tender as the mother who loves her husband but perhaps loves her son a bit more. Boy Erased is at times heartbreaking, but for the most part, it’s triumphant.

    Boy Erased is out now and available to order from Amazon

  • FILM REVIEW | Can You Ever Forgive Me?

    FILM REVIEW | Can You Ever Forgive Me?

    ★★★★ | Can You Ever Forgive Me?

    Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant both play gay characters in the fantastic Can You Ever Forgive Me?

    Based on the life of book author, and Lesbian, Lee Israel, and fluidly directed by Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me? based on the late Israel’s memoir, tells about the misadventures of Israel’s life. She was a Manhattanite who didn’t have much money to rub together, so she starts forging signatures of famous people and then sells them to collectors, raking in big money.

    Questions start arising about her charade, and soon enough she has to pull back, and then enlists her gay best friend Jack (Richard E. Grant – in his best performance ever) to take over her sales duties to pawn more fakes to the collectors. It’s early 1990’s New York City, and one gets the feeling that anything can happen then (‘if you can make it there you can make it anywhere’), and that Israel will rise above it all, but in the end, we know what is coming. But before, director Heller (working from a screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty) perfectly sets the mood and vibe of New York, with bookshops almost at every corner (long gone now no thanks to the internet) and quite a few of the scenes in the film were shot in the West Village’s classic gay bar Julius.

    Can We Ever Forgive Israel? Yes, we can definitely forgive Israel for what she’s done because it has brought us this fine movie. McCarthy and Grant have been nominated for Oscars, let’s hope that if anyone of them wins, it will be Grant. He is just superb in his role, debonair, chilled, and like a fine wine, getting better with age.

    Order Can You Ever Forgive Me on DVD

  • FILM REVIEW | Green Book

    FILM REVIEW | Green Book

    ★★★ | Green Book

    film review for Green Book
    (C) Universal

    To be gay in America in the early 1960s was not easy. But to also be black, and discriminated against on every level, was an entirely different thing, no matter how famous you were.

    Jazz pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) takes a Green Book with him when goes on a music tour of America’s south. It was a guidebook specifically printed for African-American motorists travelling in America’s south with recommendations on places to stay and eat where they won’t get discriminated against. Shirley (Mahershala Ali) hires racist (and bigoted) Italian Frank ‘Tony Lip’ Vallelonga (an excellent Viggo Mortensen) to be his driver on the two-month concert tour. The nightclub where Frank worked had shut down so he was in need of a job, perhaps any job, to support his loving wife and two young sons. So Frank packs away his racist views and becomes a sort of ‘Driving Mr Daisy.’

    Of course, nothing goes smoothly during the tour, especially when Shirley misbehaves with another man at a YMCA, with Frank left to pick up the pieces, and realizing then that this is why Shirley’s marriage to a woman never worked out. And Frank also introduces Shirley to the simple pleasures of life that he is missing, including eating fried chicken with his hand (something evidently that, hard to believe, Shirley never did). And after two hours we can see where this film is literally taking us, and what will happen between these two men during the trip.

    Green Book is a true story, and directed by a subdued Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber) it’s as slow as molasses on a hot day – but Mortensen lightens up the screen in every scene he is in  – he’s fantastic and is the take away of this film. Ali, while good, seems a bit stiff throughout, and I don’t understand why he is winning all the awards (Richard E. Grant is so much better in Can You Ever Forgive Me.) Nevertheless, Green Book is a good study in race relations in America at that time when JFK was President and Marilyn Monroe was the star of the moment.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | My Dad’s Gap Year, Park Theatre, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | My Dad’s Gap Year, Park Theatre, London

    ★★★★ | My Dad’s Gap Year

    Review of My Dad's Gap Year
    (C) Pamela Raith

    A father and son take an adventure of a lifetime in My Dad’s Gap Year.

    Now playing at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, My Dad’s Gap Year is a hilarious comedy about a father trying to bond with his conservative gay teenage son while going through a mid-life crises. Dave (Adam Lannon), dad of 18-year old William (Alex Britt), feels it’s time for them to sow their wild oats. But uptight William is not so wild, he frowns upon everything his unemployed dad does, which includes lying around the messy house not being productive. Meanwhile, William’s mom and Dave’s ex wife Cath (Michelle Collins), being the sensible one, holds a full-time job while maintaining an arm’s length relationship with Dave. But when Dave, at the very last minute, persuades William to go with him to Thailand for some father and son bonding and fun, them, and Cath, have no idea who sort of adventure, and trouble, Dave and William will get into.

    But once in Thailand, William meets cute architect Matias (Max Percy), while Dave meets beautiful Mae (a lovely Victoria Gigante). While Williams falls head over heals for Matias, Dave does the same for Mae, who works at a bar where all the ‘women there were born boys.’ But Dave’s drinking problem never goes away, while William has his own personal meltdown, leaving Cath to go to Thailand to do damage control.

    My Dad’s Gap Year is a fun show with a great cast. At only 90 minutes, it’s crisply directed (by Rikki Beadle-Blair) with funny dialogue and actors who deliver their lines perfectly. And while the show wraps up a bit too neatly at the end, all the actors are very good throughout. Lannon is very good as the father, Collins gives the show extra spark, but it’s Gigante who is extra special as Mae, a girl who just wants to have a happy life.

    My Dad’s Gap Year plays at the Park Theatre until 23rd Feb 2019. Book Tickets Here

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Kompromat, The Vaults, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | Kompromat, The Vaults, London

    The unsolved 2010 murder of Gareth Williams is the focus of a new show called ‘Kompromat’ now playing at The Vaults as part of their Vault Festival 2019.

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    Williams was found dead in his Pimlico flat, naked and stuffed into a red bag. Foul play was the expected cause death as there was no way that he could’ve zipped himself in that bag on his own. Kompromat goes so far as to suggest that Williams, who was suspected of being gay, was targeted by another man, someone he hooked up with at a gay bar, and took him back home, and that this hook-up would be William’s last one. Max Rinehart plays Zac, goodlooking and convincing, enough so that any gay man would be lucky to take him home. Guy Warren-Thomas plays Tom (Gareth), shy, a bit introverted, yet careful who he lets into his life. Zac is very confident, and as we get to learn, he’s been around the block a few times, and as his story unravels, so does the soon to be shortened life of Tom. All of this takes place in the intimacy of The Vaults which has on tap loads of other gay-related stories to tell during the 2 month festival.

    Other offerings include:

    Open

    Two husbands. One hundred lovers. A modern day romance. Join Chris and Tim for an intimate exploration of their love, jealousy and desire for one another…and many, many others.

    23 — 27 Jan 2019

    Juniper and Jules

    Until Juniper, Jules hadn’t realised she liked girls. Falling headlong into a relationship, in a world where monogamy is the norm, they soon discover they want to do things differently.

    23 — 27 Jan 2019

    Yours Sincerely

    Will has accidentally stolen 300 2nd class stamps, but he’s making them count. A queer comedy about the lost art of letter writing. Stamp collecting has never looked so sexy.

    30 Jan — 03 Feb 2019

    Greyscale

    Explore the minefields of dating in a post #metoo era. Who do we have faith in when one party believes it’s sexual misconduct, and the other, simply a bad date?

    02 Feb — 17 Mar 2019

    Bleach (main photo)

    Tyler sells his body nightly, but his world is about to be turned upside down when life takes a sinister turn. A soul-jolting story of sex, violence and city living.

    06 — 10 Feb 2019

    Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Instagram star Tom Lenk portrays iconic actress Tilda Swinton, imagined as an edgy, modern day Mary Poppins in this LGBTQ hit and Edinburgh Fringe favourite.

    06 — 17 Feb 2019

    Marmite

    Dylan and Eddie have just moved in together. They’re both really happy. Except Dylan isn’t. Between sex parties and roast dinners, ‘Marmite’ explores gay monogamy.

    13 — 17 Feb 2019

    ADMIN

    Pisín moved to London to pursue his dream of becoming socially mobile. Now, he’s having an existential crisis in a Pret A Manger toilet, trying to remember his mindfulness techniques.

    18:1027 — 28 Feb 2019

    Coming Clean: Life As A Naked House Cleaner

    Sex! Fantasies! Voyeurism! Vacuuming! Come inside the world of a naked cleaner as he explores what we want and what stops us from asking for it.

    27 Feb — 03 Mar 2019

    General Erection (a political cabaret)

    COMPILING THE SHARPEST AND MOST OUTRAGEOUS ACTS ON THE CIRCUIT, HERE IS A VARIETY NIGHT THAT CATERS TO BOTH THE 52% AND THE RACISTS WHO VOTED TO LEAVE!

    22:50

    07 Mar 2019

    Gaylords

    “GAYLORD NOUN, PEJORATIVE. Used to describe someone so gay it defies the laws of physics.” A gay hour of comedy from two Gaylords. Work in progress. Breeders welcome.<

    10 Mar 2019

    For tickets to Kompromat, which ends on Feb. 3, please go here:

    https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/kompromat/?spektrix_bounce=true

    Eight weeks of theatre and comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, live performance and late night parties.

    To see the mega program with all the shows on offer, please go here:
    https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/

  • New LGBTQ film ‘WRETCHED THINGS’ World Premiere in Londons’ Leicester Square

    Wretched Things – a hedonistic, seductive and sexy gay film – had its film premiere in Leicester Square last week – an achievement for its cast and crew.

     

    Written and Directed by Gage Oxley, and made by 16-25 year olds and inspired by the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns, Wretched Things deals with sexual exploitation, toxic masculinity and abuse of power. In it, a first-time model, a webcam sex worker, and a power-hungry homophobe journey through their insecurities and vulnerabilities. This hedonistic and seductive 80-minute film challenges toxic hyper-masculinity and the abuse of power through three vignettes.

    “Wretched Things challenges our thoughts about some of the insecurities and vulnerabilities we face through sexual exploitation, as well as highlighting the aggressors in our every day lives.” says Oxley.

    The film was shot entirely in Leeds, working with young professional filmmakers and artists based in Leeds. All cast and crew worked completely voluntarily, and made the feature-length film on a self-funded low budget. But it doesn’t look low budget at all. It has three throbbing storylines, and actors who will make you throb in other ways.

    The film, told in three chapters, stars popular talent such as Bruce Herbelin-Earle who appears in Netflixs’ Free Rein. For a taste of the film, check out the clip below

    Oxley, and his company Oxygen Films, hopes the film will make the gay film festival circuit and will open the doors for him, the actors and cast and crew, and Oxygen, for future projects. By the looks of this film, Oxley and his team are on the road to success.

     

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  • THEATRE REVIEW | Leave to Remain, Lyric Hammersmith, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | Leave to Remain, Lyric Hammersmith, London

    ★★★★| Leave to Remain

    Tyrone Huntley (Obi) and Billy Cullum (Alex) in Leave To Remain at the Lyric Hammersmith. Photo credit Helen Maybanks.

    Leave to Remain, now playing at the Lyric Hammersmith, is a modern love story set to a rock score and brilliantly tells the trials and tribulations of a multi-racial same-sex couple dealing with their upcoming marriage.

    Alex (Billy Cullum) and Obi (Tyrone Huntley) met just ten months ago but they’re already in love with each other. But American Alex, you see, is 5 years clean from drugs, and the company that sponsors his work permit is moving to Abu Dhabi. Obi, meanwhile, is a successful advertising executive with a nice loft in a trendy part of town. But Alex is not a British citizen, so if his job relocates to another country Alex has to go back to America. So what could be more simple then for Alex and Obi to get married in order for Alex to remain in the country? Well, it’s a lot more complicated then it sounds.

    The complications aren’t with Alex’ past drug history, nor is it with Obi’s secret meetings with a man named James, but the complications lie with their respective families. Alex’s mom Diane (a wonderful Johanne Murdock) is a non-stop talking busy body hands-on mom with a relatively patient husband Brian (Martin Fisher). Meanwhile, Obi’s father Kenneth (Cornell St. John) never quite accepted his son’s homosexuality, throwing him out of the house when he was just 16, much to the dismay of Obi’s mother Grace (a fantastic Rakie Ayola) and understanding sister Chichi (a great Aretha Ayeh). But with days and even hours, before the wedding, complications arise, and it’s touch and go if the wedding will happen at all, even in the light of a startling announcement from Alex’s parents and the continuing disapproval from Obi’s father. It’s all set to a rock score that’s just as modern and good as anything you’ll see in the West End.

    All the songs that are catchy and memorable and are a very good match for the story. Credit for this goes to writer Matt Jones and writer/composer Kele Okereke (Bloc Party) who somehow seamlessly and superbly set this story in present-day London to fantastic music. There’s a brilliant, and well-choreographed scene, where both families get together for the first time and sit around a dining room table set to a song called ‘To Family’ that is both hilarious and memorable. And while not one single cast member really really stands out, it’s the mothers of both young men (Ayola and Murdock) that will most stay with you. A mother’s love for her son will always remain, no matter what. Leave to Remain, directed by Robby Graham, is a truly wonderful piece of theatre. 

    Leave to Remain plays at the Lyric Hammersmith until the 16th Feb 2019, Book tickets here.



    4 /
    5 stars

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Notre Dame de Paris, London Coliseum, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | Notre Dame de Paris, London Coliseum, London

    ★★★★★| Notre Dame de Paris

    The classic Notre Dame de Paris comes to London for a limited time, and it’s well worth your effort to attend.

    Based on the acclaimed 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris (and also known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame) by Victor Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris features an international ensemble of singers, dancers and acrobats and tells the tale of the hunchbacked cathedral bell-ringer, Quasimodo, and his desperate love for the gypsy, Esmeralda. The show, which is in London for 7 performances only, culminates with the 5,000th performance of the show. Playing at the London Coliseum in Covent Garden, this production is the original French production. Composed byRichard Cocciantewith lyrics byLuc Plamondon, directed byGilles Maheu and choreographed byMartino Müller, this production stars Angelo Del Vecchio (Quasimodo), Hiba Tawaji (Esmeralda), Daniel Lavoie (Frollo), Richard Charest (Gringoire), and Martin Giroux (Phoebus), among others, and all members of the principal cast in the current world tour. The singers are accompanied by the stunning English National Opera (ENO) Orchestra with Matthew Brind conducting.

    Del Vecchio is a wonder playing Quasimodo. Italian born, he is the only singer in the world to have performed the show in three languages. When he sings he is passionate, and you can feel his love for Esmeralda through his voice. Meanwhile, Tawaji is wonderful as the beautiful and mesmerizing Esmeralda, a role she has played all over the world since 2016. Esmeralda can have any man she wants, but after being kidnapped by Quasimodo, over time she starts falling in love with him. Think Beauty and the Beast and this is what you’ve got – but operatic style. But Notre Dame de Paris is not just opera, it’s grand opera. And in the amazingly beautiful confines of the London Coliseum, it makes for a grand grand show on a grand grand stage in a grand grand auditorium.

    Lavoie is also amazing in the role as Frollo – a priest who also has a dirty hand in the abduction and imprisonment of Esmeralda – only because he loves her but she won’t let him have her. Charest as Gringoire is our poet, and commentator, and guides us through this spellbinding production, while Giroux takes to heart his leading man status, and good looks as Phoebus, who woos not just Esmeralda but any pretty woman in sight. And besides the main actors and their amazing singing, acrobatics and break dancers are interspersed with the story. The cast of about a dozen or so jump, climb, twist, turn – it’s all very mesmerizing and choreographed spectacularly, especially when they climb the walls and dive underneath baricades and perform somersalts. It’s all very energetic and sexy.

    And Notre Dame de Paris is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Having sold out performances across 16 countries and been translated into nine different languages, Notre Dame de Paris originallydebuted at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, 1998. Following its opening, the production was commended in the Guinness Book of World Records 2000 for its record success for a musical during its first year.

    Director Maheu and choreographer Müller have created an opera that’s spell-binding in almost every way possible, while the lush music, by Plamondon and Cocciante, is perfect. Notre Dame de Paris is just like the city it’s named after. It’s romantic, beautiful, tragic, and very memorable. Notre Dame de Paris is a must see.

    Notre Dame de Paris plays at the London Coliseum until 27th January 2019. Book tickets here